Career is like a long journey, for which we are prepared the moment we start to walk. When born, we are very dependent and need others to care for us, with time we learn to walk and talk, try new things, get curious about surroundings, explore stuff, and what not to quench our curiosities.
Couples of year more down the road and the education phase kicks off. Knowledge, information and exposure start to dissolve into our existence. We face competition, embrace successes and failures, thus gaining a better picture of the environment we are to survive and grow.
From the very start there is something we want to do in our lives. But all along we are learning, adopting and getting influenced by surroundings. Every option and choice from the very start whether it is ours’ or the guardian’s, counts and will make difference eventually in what career path we end in. This becomes the most important decision of our life, which influence the decades to come.
Career is not one day thing it is a life-long process, every moment and achievement is a combined effect of all the moments before that. Accumulating experience and exposure are not the only things we are doing, we also make choices, take steps, get involved in risks, and gamble with options.
Successes and failures knock at our doorstep every now and then. All this is part of the hike to the summit. A mountain is not just only upwards, it has ditches, cliffs, slippery spots or just a straight track. So what we do on the journey depends on how we have set our goals and how we are planning to use our skills. Be rash and you will fall on every step, try to run and you be tired and out of breath every few moments. Journey of career is all about being calm, rational and persistent in behavior. Twisting part of journey is that the summit of career lies in infinity. Money and fame does not necessarily defines success, much more is involved, how many souls you touched, happiness that you earned and distributed, satisfaction you gained, difference you made to the society.
As of me, I think following matters the most to grow in your career:
1. Choose a field which best suits your passion and aptitude
2. Avoid making a career choice based on monetary values
3. Be the best in what you do, nothing less than that
4. Set career objectives in early stages, it clarifies decisions later on
5. Shortcuts are short term solution, hard work and sincerity is the only right way to the top
6. Be who you want to be, not they want you to be
Worldly things are shallow and as we are lured more and more into the trap we start to mix careers with the glamour. Actually career is much deeper than it is depicted. Wealth isn’t the thing which makes the difference, choices does.